Meet Joshua Pruett

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joshua Pruett. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Joshua, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
A friend once shared that the job of a working creative was to “collect NOs.” I have found this to be hilariously accurate and on point. I’ve collected my share of NOs, more NOs than YESes, for sure, but early on realized that all of my heroes have had similar, and often worse, war stories. Outside of just understanding that resilience IS the job, I’ve come to realize that being BOLDLY DELUSIONAL can be a real weapon against despair and discouragement. To sustain a job writing books and movies and TV, you’ve got to IMAGINE it can happen, and happen again and again. For me, it’s more like a COMPULSION, I do it when I’m not even trying to do it; writing dialogue in my head while driving, or fixing scenes as I’m washing my hands or breaking a story while doing laundry (stupid chores). I think my resilience comes from knowing that I’m willing to work harder than most, to put the hours in, to put the time in and that NOs are not the end, but the PATH to my next adventure, and maybe, that utterly, flabbergastingly delusional YES. To quote Goethe, my own Mom and Cameron Crowe’s Mom in ALMOST FAMOUS; “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” Be bold, be delusional, and collect those NOs.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
As a TV Writer and Author, I’m often moving in many directions at the same time and in this climate, I feel like diversification is key. Recently, I’ve loved the chance to share my experience as a teacher with the CG Master Academy and the CSU Long Beach Art dept, and am looking into doing more work in education; there are so many things I wish I knew when I was coming up that I’d love to give to young people. For me, all of this is about connecting; inflicting laughter on people as a staff writer on Disney TV’s Phineas and Ferb, or co-writing graphic novels for kids with The Last Comics on Earth series, they are opportunities to meet people, and specifically kids, exactly where they are. Next year, my first solo middle grade book, Gyro and Argonauts will be released by Andrews McMeel. Pitched as the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Greek Mythology, it’s about the first greek geek/super fan in history, and how he learns, the hard way, that the heroes he worships are kinda monsters, and the monsters he’s learned to fear represent his only chance to become a real hero. At its core, Gyro is about taking back your own story, and not allowing anyone else to dictate your path to you, and telling that story allowed me to share my own!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Don’t worry about being PIGEON HOLED into a career path in the beginning; this is actually helpful. The first thing you’re trying to do is get hired and stay hired and if there’s something you’re good at and fast at, do that! A Production Manager is looking to fill a need, first and foremost, and you being a jack of all trades, master of none just confuses them. Once you’re in and established and hirable, THEN you can branch out and diversify so you can be as nimble as the industry ebbs and flows or crashes and rebuilds around you. Network horizontally, with your peers, not vertically. Taking the boss to lunch is not as much of an investment as building your community can be. Be genuine, find likeminded folks, make friends; that’s the best kind of networking. That way, when a friend hears about an opening, they can recommend you PERSONALLY, and that holds so much more weight. My friends and I have spent years making sure that recommendation is an easy one to make. Thirdly, it’s what you bring to the table that will separate you from the pack; going in, there’s a skill level that needs to be met, but in order to shine, you need to bring your tastes/personality/hobbies/background/story to the table. Being a horror movie fan means I bring that love of monsters and sci-fi and spooky stuff to whatever I do, but it means my work stands out a bit, because I’m putting my horror dna into things for younger audiences; it’s part of my brand. Also, I love it, so I do it automatically. What do you do automatically, without thinking about it? Now lean into that and build your rep on being the person who brings THAT to every opportunity.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I feel overwhelmed ALL THE TIME! The only thing that works for me is tackling my professional and personal work in smaller CHUNKS. I have a timer I use to break out work sessions into more manageable pieces; 20 min at a time, or 40 min or an hour. It’s a visual timer, so I can see how much time I have left. I am much better at getting things done in pieces, but have found I can knock out a lot of work/pages in one hour. Sometimes I make a game out of it, seeing how much I can get done in a certain amount of time; also, rewards help, like movies or reading time — I also try and tackle the least preferred task first; the way I look at it, I want FUTURE JOSH to be grateful for PAST JOSH’s choices; helping out Future Josh makes for happier Josh in general.

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